Rose of Venus
by Dylan Lee Arwood
Summary: Now that the magic is bound, Gemma prepares to give up her power and start living a normal life. But when something devastating happens, she finds herself back the realms in a race against time. R&R pls
1. Chapter 1

"_I am obnoxious to each carping tongue,  
Who sayes my hand a needle better fits,  
A Poet's Pen, all scorne, I should thus wrong;  
For such despight they cast on female wits:  
If what I doe prove well, it won't advance,  
They'll say it's stolne, or else, it was by chance."_

-Anne Bradstreet, _The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung up in America_

* * *

"_Peer of the gods, the happiest man I seem_

_Sitting before thee, rapt at thy sight, hearing_

_Thy soft laughter and they voice most gentle,_

_Speaking so sweetly._

_Then in my bosom my heart wildly flutters,_

_And, when on thee I gaze never so little,_

_Bereft am I of all power of utterance,_

_My tongue is useless._

_There rushes at once through my flesh tingling fire,_

_My eyes are deprived of all power of vision,_

_My ears hear nothing by sounds of winds roaring,_

_And all is blackness._

_Down courses in streams the sweat of emotion,_

_A dread trembling o'erwhelms me, paler than I_

_Than dried grass in autumn, and in my madness_

_Dead I seem almost."_

-Sappho, _Hymn to Aphrodite_ (translation by Edwin Marion Cox)

* * *

I am Gemma Doyle; student of Spence Academy, sorceress and clairvoyant and the keeper of the magic of the realms. Any questions? I know I have heaps of them, and nobody to ask. It seems I am all on my own.

At least I have my friends. Different magic societies have reached out to me, offering their alliance in exchange for a share of the power, but I can not trust them as I can trust my friends. Dear old Ann Bradshaw and Felicity Worthington, the mysterious Asha and the Untouchables, the Gorgon and Philon. Then of course Kartik has agreed to help us, not that he had much choice after his brotherhood renounced him. Although I cannot say what good their friendship will do against the anger of the Order.

Over the Christmas holidays I did something big, and I am only beginning to understand exactly how big it was. Upon finding the Temple in the realms, I realized I had nothing to bind the magic to, because I had no one who I could trust, except possibly myself. And, so I had no choice but to bind the magic to me _Excellent _decision Gemma, does it not _always_ pay to act first and think later?

I do not know, least of all, what lies ahead. I thought myself foolish for thinking that perhaps it would all disappear but it appears to have done exactly that. I have not had any visions of late; I rather miss them I admit. I have not seen Kartik nor has any members of the Rakshana attempted to abduct me or anything of the sort. Plus, neither Ann or Felicity has asked to go back to the realms, which is just as well I suppose. I do not know what to expect when we return.

I am at my window staring out into the soggy grounds of Spence, gray with slush and muck. The world's winter is always harder to bear once Christmastime cheer has faded from the landscape. A lone morning dove flutters onto the window sill, and begins cooing softly.

I am shocked to see the dove remains still as I put my palm up against the cold glass of the window pane. It bows its neck quickly and then flies off. I feel very peaceful and calm after this, some feeling I can't really place.

Perhaps the realms have not chosen me to continue with the magic. I will lead a normal life and marry some dashing fellow without any worry of any disgracing secrets that will land me in an asylum. These past months will be a distant memory, all but forgotten completely.

I spot the glint of metal against the rough grey stone ledge. I put my hand on my lap and it burns with the sudden warmth. It is a silver pendant with a tarnished charm on the end. My eyes dart to the door and then, I ease the window open and slide my hand through the space, slipping the chain around my fingers before pulling it back in and quietly easing the window shut again. I recognize the charm as a cinquefoil, there's one carved onto Mama's gravestone. As it sits, heavy in my palm it occurs to me that the dove had brought it, and I dismiss the thought as utter madness. But then with a sinking feeling, my life of normalcy evaporates.

I hear footsteps in the corridor and hastily put it in Ann's top drawer. If I close my mind to it, then it won't seek me. 'I'm half sick of shadows'... and visions and danger. I've hurt enough people with my powers. I choose not to see...

The dove swoops across the window once more and I pull down the shutter and close the curtains. Then I leave the room.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

It's one of _those_ days today. "Gemma's having a day" my Mother would say. I was infamous for them while we were living in India. Our language teacher Ms. Ashford drones on about Greek literature and her shrill frilly voice makes it's way to my ears and with a dull thud, stops at the stone wall that is my brain.

"Artemis was the Grecian goddess of the hunt and was never without her wooden bow and a quiver of silver, painless arrows swung behind her back. She never married but was considered the protector of children and young women. She was often associated with the moon, the deer and the hawk..."

Oh save me. My back slumps a little and I feel my corset jab me between my ribs, reminding me gently of the imperative importance of posture. It most certainly is one of those days.

Felicity waits until Ms. Ashford is at the board and then turns slightly in her seat and mimes stringing her bow and letting her arrow fly. I pretend to be hit and act out taking the arrow from my heart.

"Is there something the matter Miss. Doyle?" asks Ms. Ashford looking at me with deepest concern for my sanity

"No Ms. Ashford... Only a little indigestion," I say

"Well then, why don't you remind the class of the attributes of the goddess Athena?" she inquires oh so innocently

"Well...erm... She was quite the goddess, this Athena... She...um...She..." Ann's hand shoots up in the air and I smile most graciously, and then pronounce: "Why don't you ask Ann?"

"Alright then, Miss Bradshaw?" she turns to Ann but only after giving me the look of death

"Athena was the powerful goddess of Wisdom and of Athens. Her symbol is the owl" Ann recites quietly, reading from the notes she's taken. Her eyes look almost sunken when they're cast down, the dark smudges under her eyes of late, become even more apparent.

"Very good Ann," she goes back to the chalkboard, "Another goddess of Greek mythology is Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Often connected with the dove, she was also the goddess of Life-in-death..."

My attention wanes again. There is a dull ache around my temples and across my forehead and I press my cold fist against my head to alleviate it a moment so that I might think clearly.

I catch sight of Ann again out of the corner of my eye. She has changed a lot since Christmas break and I find myself worrying about her. Her cheeks are pale and her fingers are thin and trembling as she scratches a note about the goddess Demeter. I suppose it may be all the excitement that we had during the holidays, but I have some irksome feeling that tells me there's something else... I catch a glimpse of a dark winged bird soaring over the treetops of the woods and it somehow triggers my memory.

I had a dream last night about Ann. She and I were climbing this rocky knoll together and when we got to the top there was a dark mouthed cave. We entered and the light from a cast iron lantern hanging from the roof glittered and sparkled on the walls. Then...Then I spotted the cinquefoil on the walls, exactly like the one from the locket. Someone came out of the shadows with their hands outstretched...Was it Asha...Yes... I am fairly sure. She traced a path within the cinquefoil and then pointed to the stone roof of the cave. It wasn't the roof of the cave at all, but had become night sky... And then the cave and Asha disappeared... Ann and I are running, faster than I ever have before. Our feet have wings and we take flight, shooting up into the stars... I turn around and Ann is gone but I can hear her whisper something to me, I can't remember what it was. The dream is slipping away and I struggle to recall... Something about Kartik... My hands in his... Triangles interlocking... Cinquefoil... And a ring of trees that swirl around me...

"Gemma! Hello?" Felicity's voice brings me back to the present. The class is over and girls are already filing out. I blink a few times and get out of my desk.

"I'm coming" I say


End file.
